DC Variations That Are Really Frustrating!

[David Schwab]

I wind a coil to 5400 turns of 42 single poly. Same wire I've been using for years. Same technique. Same speed. Same tension. Same relative tpl (I hand wind so tension and tpl are unknown but my technique hasn't changed any).

So 5400 turns regularly nets me 4.20 resistance for a humbuckering total of 8.4. I mean regularly. Like this is my go to wind.

You don't need to worry about DC resistance. Just wind the way you always do. You wind to turns count and not resistance.

After all you don't know what the temperature is going to be where the pickup gets installed.

[Leo_Gnardo]

You don't need to worry about DC resistance. Just wind the way you always do. You wind to turns count and not resistance.

After all you don't know what the temperature is going to be where the pickup gets installed.

Many guitarists "need a number to hang their hat on" and have even figured out how to run a digital multimeter so they look for their favorithe "ohms reading" as the guide to which pickup will sound good for them. What wire gauge? "Daaaahh.... Idunno....does that mean something?" The good pro winders here and some other folks besides, have figured out yes it's turn numbers not resistance, but who can count turn numbers unless you're winding or trust your winder to count. So ... the ohm meter readers will continue to vex us.

I've got one customer who measures his volume & tone pots too. If it's too far off his favorite 240K, it's not right for him. He's a helluva player, a good guy and pays his bills so I humor him.

Try reading the pickup resistance just after the pickup's been removed from a hot wax bath.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I'm sure fretwire manufacturer's aren't going out of their way to make life any easier for guitar makers. I did read somewhere a while ago that frets could be work hardened by burnishing after final polishing with a burnishing steel, any thoughts on that ?

By the time you get enough energy worked up to make a change - either way - in the frets hardness "in situ" that is with the frets in place on the neck, I think you'll have that fret board smoldering.

[kayakerca]

Try reading the pickup resistance just after the pickup's been removed from a hot wax bath.

While not nearly as dramatic as after potting, I also find that the DCR of a s/c wind is ~ 125Ω higher right after it is wound than an hour or so later.

[the great waldo]

Hi Mick

Thanks for the reply .
I recently got the book by George Daniels on watchmaking but gave it away to my best friend. Another world but a good read.

Cheers

Andrew

Burnishing does harden the surface very slightly and gives a much better finish in that it closes the minute scratches left after the final polish. It's a technique used a lot in clock making to improve bearing surfaces - a pivot file has two filing faces and two burnishing faces. There are also tapered burnishers to dress pivot holes. The value of burnishing frets depends on the particular alloy and existing state of work-hardening. It shouldn't be necessary if the wire is good to begin with.